1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a component mounting apparatus for mounting a component such as an electronic component on a circuit board or the like, a method of producing the mounting component, and a conveyor apparatus typically used in the component mounting apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
From the past, a mounting apparatus for mounting an electronic component on a substrate includes a horizontally-moving head that holds the electronic component. A nozzle for absorbing the electronic component by vacuum suction, for example, is attached to the head. By a vertical movement of the nozzle, the nozzle is brought close to the substrate to thus mount the electronic component on the substrate (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-227617 (paragraph [0047], FIGS. 5 to 7); hereinafter, referred to as Patent Document 1).
The mounting apparatus of Patent Document 1 includes, for example, four electronic-component supplying portions F1 to F4. Between the electronic-component supplying portions F1 and F2, the substrate is movable in a direction in which the electronic-component supplying portions F1 and F2 are arranged (y direction in FIG. 3 of Patent Document 1) by means of two substrate conveyors. Also between the electronic-component supplying portions F3 and F4, the substrate is movable in the y direction by means of two substrate conveyors. It should be noted that the substrate conveyors themselves cannot move in an x direction.
In a center column of the mounting apparatus, the four substrate conveyors move substrates P1 to P7 also in the x direction as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7. For example, the substrates are moved from one substrate conveyor to another in the x direction.